No. The goal is to win now, there's no point in moving Danault before the playoffs. We go as far as we can with the current lineup and let him expire this summer or trade his UFA rights.

If there still playing well enought that some people have them #1 in the Power rankings then I'd keep him. If they drop off even if it's not that much I'd definitely at least listen to offers

Danault's worth a good sum, but Habs shouldn't move him. He's a vital piece for your playoff run.

Think of him as your own rental.

Also, fat chance SEA is taking Edmundson without some compensation. There's so many better options in MTL to pick from.

If you want to win the Cup, you'll keep him. You don't need a return for him, the reward is a stanley cup. KK isn't good enough yet to play 2C on a cup run.

There's nothing wrong for losing him to free agency if you go deep in the playoffs which this team is primed to do.

You think there are better option than Edmundson? Personally I think he'll be the best player unprotected. Mtl will protect Weber, Petry and Chariot. I think the only other option would be Lehkonen...

Yeah I agree that if the habs look this good headed into the deadline they might hold onto him.

The answer is you sign him no matter what, before giving any other contract (ELCs not included).

If for whatever reason, that contract can't be stomached -- then the organization can trade him.

It might suck loosing a Tatar or Armia. But, past examples have shown that returns on centres -- especially responsible centres -- are at a premium. The canadiens could still get something for him at a later date.

Mete and Allen comes to mind. Allen has been playing great, he could very well be a potential 1G option for them.

Mete is a young cost controlled D.

Also Fleury is an option, should MTL not deal him away.

Well, I agree with everything you said except for 'no matter what'. To be honest, it's hard giving him a $6M+ contract to a player who's never scored 15 goals. I don't think the team could survive that cap-wise.

Danault isn't going to want to play 3C the rest of his next contract and you don't want to burry KK at 3C if Danault is kept in the top 6.

I think Montreal will be fine if they lose him to Free Agency. Hopefully KK will be ready for 2C by that time. If not, maybe Domi again haha

If the Habs are gonna take a playoff spot I think they need to consider him as an internal rental. Trades are going to be tough especially involving the Canadian division. Minus the most recent example of course.

Ok, I see that. First off, I hope they do take Mete, I don't think he can play on half the teams in the NHL. If Jake Allen continues like his first two games and wins more than 60% of his games, yep I do think the Kraken will take him, unfourtunately.

To answer your questions

1. Max. I give Danault is 5.5 x 6 years any higher than that and he prices himself out of Montreal.

2. Habs will hold onto him as long as they can then either flip his rights (likely get a 2nd or 3rd for them) or let him walk in FA and hope Poehilng can fill the 3C or 4C hole next season, with Evans filling the other. (Most likely option)

3. If for some reason either due to injuries or whatever we are out of the playoffs to the point of no return then you flip him at the deadline for max return. (Least likely option)

There are few goalies available that are as good or better than Allen in this expansion draft. In every Seattle expansion ACGM I've made, I couldn't pick anyone besides Allen. Quick is better, but they have Lizotte, AA, and other solid forwards to pick from.

I don't see Edmonson, Mete, or Colorado's Graves being picked like a lot of people suggest. There are a lot of better LD options to pick from such as Skjei, Bean, Dermott, McDonagh, Ghost, Lauzon, Jones, maybe Giordano, etc. I'd personally do:
Lauzon Burns
Dermott Mayfield
Bean (some defensive RD)
Jones

Personally, I do whatever I can to keep him. he's slowly building a great name for himself with his 2 way play. I don't think KK is a second line center right now anyways.
If you can get Danault for 5 million for 3 or 4 years, why not. you know what he is, what he gives you, and what he means to the team.
Don't trade players like this.

Edmonton can’t take a cap dump. There are enough issues with buyouts retained salary and james neal’s contract.

My argument is you don't lose the potential returns to get from Danault. Losing Tatar for example is one thing. Danault will fetch picks no matter what the situation. I'd rather the Habs exhaust other options (ex. lose Tatar to free agency, then lose the trades they could from Danault)

A lot of good comments about a prominent topic. What to do with Danault. To me Suzuki is your #1 C, KK is your eventual #2 C but he is not there quite yet. Poehling is the mystery guy, what is his ceiling. He is not even playing right now. I really like Evans in your #4 C, if his face-offs can come up, you have an excellent cerebral player that plays a 200 foot game.

So for me it comes down to:

1- how much is Danault asking and how many years?
2- when will KK take the #2 C spot?
3- What will Poehlings ceiling be?

I personally would offer him extra term and go very heavy on signing bonuses to get him to sign for 4.875M (over 3.5M per in signing bonuses) but I think 5.5M per for 6 years would do. Though I can see him getting 6.5M for 7 years on the open market.

Sign him now at 5,25-5,5m for 5 years. Once money becomes thight in 1-2 years, you can still trade him...

Doesn't really matter if Edmundson is the best player. Seattle can't draft 31 players at 3.5m. Seattle will take some mid priced cap, and so low priced caps and then maybe fill there roster with some UFAs.

Oilers don't want your cap dump

Jake Allen maybe

The max. contract I would do is $5.5 million x 6 years. And even if we don’t end up re-signing him, it’s not worth it to trade him.

no one 'wants' a dump. What the oilers do want though are Dmen and draft picks...